Blacks facing same questions, same issues 20 years later

September 12, 2013

“The economic distress of America’s inner cities may be the most pressing issue facing the nation. The lack of businesses and jobs in disadvantaged urban areas fuels not only a crushing cycle of poverty but also crippling social problems such as drug abuse and crime… A sustainable economic base can be created in the inner city, but only as it has been created elsewhere: through private, for-profit initiatives and investment based on economic self-interest and genuine competitive advantage.” Michael E. Porter, “The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City,” Harvard Business Review, May-June 1995.

Yes, nearly 20 years ago, another call for a little common sense was put forth regarding the problem of America’s inner cities. Today, we have the same questions, the same issues, and many of the same folks running around trying to get elected by offering to change things for the people who reside in what Ron Daniels calls “America’s Dark Ghettos.”

We have talking heads misleading us on what it takes to make the appropriate changes necessary for our collective growth. All the while their pockets are being filled and ours are being emptied.

Trapped in poverty
As Booker T. Washington once said, “There are some Negroes who don’t want the patient to get well.”

We should be ashamed of ourselves. Sure, many Black people are doing quite well, individually, but far more are trapped in a generational cycle of poverty; and while personal choice and responsibility have led to many of their problems, their children had no choice in the matter. They are suffering the most from our dysfunction and lack of common sense when it comes to economic empowerment.

Michael Porter’s words are not unique, and his prescription for success is not new. Our forbearers demonstrated how to empower themselves economically many years ago, and they did it under the worst of circumstances. They were not perfect; they were not educated; and they were not affluent.

But they endured hardships and worked tirelessly with the understanding that it was up to them to take care of their children, and it was their responsibility to determine the direction of their own lives.

Power abdicated
The key words in Porter’s quote are “economic self-interest and genuine competitive advantage.” Black people, especially at the ballot boxes across this nation, have abdicated the authority, power, and reasoning we once had with our votes.

All too often we simply cast votes, not in our own self-interest, but as though we are voting in some local popularity contest. All a politician has to do to get our vote is hold our baby or show up at our church or eat a rib with us.

Politics is about self-interest, the kind that Porter’s words speak about and the kind demonstrated by our ancestors. How can your vote be powerful if you simply give it away without reciprocity?

Competitive advantage
As for “competitive advantage,” Black people in this country have several business niches from which we could grow our collective economy. Look at the products we buy, the foods we eat, and the services we use. Look at the high concentration of Black people in various cities – veritable economic enclaves themselves – except right now our dollars are going to someone else’s business, and not to our own.

One problem is that many of us look at ourselves as being “competitively disadvantaged” and, thus, play into the self-fulfilling prophecy of not having the ability to open, support, and grow more businesses in the very neighborhoods where we live.

Jim Clingman is an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati and can be reached through his Web site, blackonomics.com.